Samuel h



S. H. SHAW Sept. 30 1924.

BUMPER Filed Nov. l2 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet l ATTORNEYS sept'. so'. 1924. 1,510,112

S, H. SHAW BUMPER FileQ 12 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 @wf @I Z 32l 33 If/ ATTRNEYS A Patented Sept. 30, 1924. y

UNITED STATES 1,510,112 PATENT oFFicE.

SAMUEL H. SHAW, oFivEW YORK, N. Y. y

j f l s BUMPER.

Application `filed November 12,1923. Serial No. 674,115.

To all 'whom t concern Be it known that LSAMUEL H. SHAW,

a citizen of the United States, residing at New York city, in thecounty of New York and State of N ew York, havel invented certain` new and useful Improvements in Bumpers, or' which ythe following is a full, clear, v.and exact description. This invention relates to bumpers for at-` tachment to the front or rear end of a vgehicle for the purpose of absorbing shocks or impacts due tocollision of the vehicle with l another vehicle, or with an obstruction, and thus lessenor avoid kinjury yto the colliding bodies. Int-he absence of a standard or customary height yof bumpers above the roadway it is desirablethat the bumpers becapable of engaging with bumpers at different Vheights on other vehicles with kwhich the carrying` vehicle may collide. n

r'An objectoffthe iiiventionis to provide an improved bumper which will have suiiicient verticalf` dimensions or will present sulicientdimpact surface to be engageable with bumpers at different heights upon other n' vehicles Ywith which the carrying vehicle may collide; which' maybe ormedof a relatively small amount oi' stock material, pref-v erably-largely from rilatstrips'ofiinetall of uniform width; which will retain, as far as economically possible, all of the advantage relative tof the capacity of acne-piece .impact plate; which is resilient and possesses maximum elfectiveuess in resisting the stresses of collision; which, is exceptionally simple in construction and manufacture, du-

` rable,`attractive in appearance, and relativelyl inexpensive and' light infweight.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following` description 'of sev-` eral embodiments ofthe invention.

The details of the invention will heres` iiiaterap-pear, andthe novel features will be particularlypointed out inthe claims.

In theaccompanying drawings:

Fig. lis a plan of abuinper constructed in accordance with the invention; y Fig.; 2y is' a front elevation of the same; Fig. 3 `is an endelevationof the same; F ig. 4 is a sectionalelevation of the same,

taken substantially alongtheline {1 -401E Figure2;"1 Fig. 5 is a plan` of another embodiment ofthe'invention; i

Fig. 6' is afront elevation of the same;

Fig. 7 is a front elevation kot a port-ion of the bumper shown in Figures 5 and 6, on a slightly larger scale, and having a por-v tion broken away toi show details;

Fig. 8 is a sectional elevation of the same taken substantially along the line 8,-8 of Figure 6; f n f Fig. 9 is a plan of a portion of a bumper illustrating a furtlierembodiment of the invention l Lning with that of the otherunit, and with the arms of each unit superposed Verticallyl relatively to one another. n The overrunning arms may be secured together in any suitable manner, such Vas by clamps 3 which embrace the overrunning arms, the

clamping action being varied by a suitable clamping bolt or screw 4. The base or cross arm portion 5 of the U ofeach unit is curved backwardly uponl itself in lspaced relation to the major portion of the unit. TA .bar or member 6 of spring metalv is secured, at a point intermediate of its length,

by a bolt 7 to the base portion 5 oli-eachy unit, the strip .6 extending along the inner i `tace of the curved back portion V`of each unit and thence for a short distance along the inner face of the major portion of the unit, the ends `of each strip being curved in ,a direction transversely of the units for at-- tachment to the side bars 8 of. a vehicle yframe. Y One of the ends 9 of eachstrip 6,

which extends directly fromthe base portiony of the unit, passesalofng onel tace of a'suitable bracket member l0 which is sefcured in any suitable manner `to the side bar 8 ofthe kchassis frame, the end 9 being,

gfor 'exampfleattached to the bracket by suitable bolts 11. LThe end of each strip 6, which extends along the inner :tace ofthe unit, is embraced by one of the clamps 3 andv passes beyond the adjacent sideV bar'S ofthe chassis frame, curves to extend along the sidebar 8 and then the extreme end l2 extends in the reverse directionv along the side bar of the frame for attachment to the spring bolt 18 in the end of the side bar. The bracket memberrlO maybe secured to the side bar 8 in any suitable manner, such as by the spring bolt and also by a hook bolt 13 passing through the bracket member and having a hooked end 14 in hooked engage ment with the opposite face of the side bar 8. A bolt 15 passes through the outer end of the bracket member 10 and has an angular end 16 surrounding the spring bolt 13 at the opposite face of the side bar and clamping the end 12 of the strip 6 against the side bar 8.

The units may be stamped in U-shape from suitable sheet metal stock and the base portions then bent backwardly upon themselves, or the units may be formed of a single uniform strip of fiat metal bar which is bent Within its plane into substantially U-shape to provide the U-shape member, and the base portion then subsequently bent backWardly upon itself. Both units may be identical in construction and may have arms of equal or unequal length. Each unit will be supported with its arms vertically above one another so as to present suiiicient impact surface or vertical dimensions Yto engage With bumpers on colliding vehicles which may be located both above and below the level generally protected by bumpers having straight impact members.

lV hen a bumper constructed in this manner is subjected to impact in a direction endivise of the vehicle, the Yends of the strips 6 will flex and yieldingly resist the impact by absorbingv the shocks, and the units may also flex to some extent. The; portion of the units vbetween the clamps 3 Will usually be of double thickness, due to the overrunning of the ends of the units, and thus will provide a greater resistance to impact in the intermediate portion of the bumper. rlhe supporting stript, by eurving away from the unit to Whichvit is attached and then toward it in the manner illustrated, will provide in a short length aV longer spring arm to be flexed than Would he the case if the strip 6 merely extended directly or by simple curves from the clamp 3 to the support. ThisA longer spring arm of the strip 6 increases its resiliency Without materially decreasing its strength, and therefore the functioning of the bumper is greatly improved.

Referring to Figures 5 to 8, a pair of U*- shape impact units 17 and 18 are arranged in the same plane, and extend in opposite directions with the free ends of the arms abutting. The free ends of the arms are cut obliquely, as at 19, so that the abutting ends will overrun with one another to some extent. The ends of the arms of the impact units in the overrunning portions are provided With apertures 20, and a clamp plate 21, overlapping the abutting ends of both arms of the units, is provided With doWel pins 22 Which are adapted to enter the apertures 20 and couple the abutting ends of the units.

rlhe abutting ends of the arms of the units are also provided With aligned semi-circular notches 28, and a bolt 24 is adapted to pass through the clamp -plate 2l, through the aperture formed by the aligned notches 23, and through anV auxiliary plate 25 fitting against the inner faces of the units and joining the pairs of spaced arms. rlhe clamp plate 21 is provided with lugs 2G along each side edge Which extend rearwardly for a purpose to be explained herei'nafter.

A supporting bar 2T formed of flat strip spring metal extends between the lugs 26 and an offset portion of the auxiliary plate 25 behind the abutting units, being clamped between the front clamp plate 21 and the rear auxiliary plate 25 by the bolts 24. The lugs 26 sp ce the bar 27 from the units and provide abutments against which the bar may be firmly clamped. rlhe'supporting member extends on each side of the clamp plate 21 and then curves transversely thereto for attachment to bracket members 10, which may be carried upon the side bars 8 of the chassis frame.

Additional supportingmembers 28 are attached by 'bolts or rivets 29 to the cross arm portions of the U-shaped impact units which are at the outer ends of the bumper, and then curve transversely to the impact units and along the ends of the supporting mem ber 27 for attachment to the bracket member l0. The ends of the supporting member 2T `which are attached to the bracket members 10, are preferably bowed in the direction of the length of the impact units so as to increase the resiliency of the bumper Without materially lessening its strength.

he U-shape impact units may be stamped from stock sheet material, such as sheet spring metal, or flat metallic spring bars may be twisted in their own pla-ne, the ends of the strips when being severed from the stock material being cut obliquely as illustrated, in order to obtain the overrunning of the abutting ends of the units. The supporting member 27 reinforces the impact units at their junction, andY since this junction is preferably at the central portion of the bumper, the central portion will be re inforced by the supporting member.

Referring to Figures 9 to 11, the Ulshape impact units 30 are supported at points adjacent their ends by curved resilient supporting strips or members 31,'Which are attached to the bracket members 10 and carry Vbolts 32 at their outer lends Which pass through the slot or space betweenthe arms of the U-shape units. The bolts 32preferably which is adapted to fit the space bet-'Ween IUD llU

justment has been made and the bumper is f attached to a vehicle, the bolts 32 will be tightened so as to form `permanent or tight connections between the impact units and the supporting strips The impact units may overrun `and be joined in the manner illustrated in Figures l to 4, or in the manner illustrated in Figures 5to8. 'If desired the impact element may be stamped Jfrom a single piece of sheet metal in the form of an elongated O with the supporting strips 3l attached to the ends of this element, through the slots by meansof the bolts 32. n

It will be obvious that various changes in the details and arrangements kof .parts herein described andl illustrated for the purpose of explaining the nature of the vinvention may be made by those skilled in the art withintheprincipleand scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

Claims: l i

1. A bumper for vehicles comprising a pair of U-shaped impact units extending in opposite directions and having Vthe arms of each overrunning those of kthe other, means 'for securing the units against separation `from one another, and means for attaching the combined units to a vehicle, including a spring bar connected intermediate of its ends to the combined units and at'` its ends to the vehicle whereby the impact units will be supported transversely of thel vehicle.

2. A bumper for vehicles comprising a pair of U-shaped impact units extending in opposite directions and having the arms of each overrunning those of the other, means Y for securing the units against separation from one another anda pair of spring bars each connected at an intermediate point to the base portion of yone of the units,fextend ing along the unit for a distance, and then curved transversely of theunit for connec-Y tion to a side bar of the vehicle frame.

3. A bumper for vehicles comprising a pair of U-shaped impact units lextending in opposite ydirections and having thearms of each overrunning ythose of the other, means l for securing the units against separation r'of one of the units, extending along both the curved back and main portion of the unit, and having its ends curved to extend ytransversely of the unit for. connection to a v side bar oi' the vehicle `frame.

l. A bumper for vehicles comprising a pair of U-shaped impact units extending in opposite directions and having the arms of each overrunning those of the other, means for securing ythe units against separation from one another, the base portion of each unit being curved backwardly upon itself and spacedi'rom its arms, and a pair of spring bars, each connected at an intermediate point to the curved back base portion `of one of the units, extending along both the curved back and main portion of the unit, and having its Vends curved to extend transversely of the unit for connection toa side bar of the vehicle frame, said means for securing the units against separation also securing the portions of the spring bars units to those units.

5. A bumper yfor vehicles comprising an that extend along the main portions oi the impact element, and a pair or" supporting strips of resilient material secured at points intermediate their lengths to the opposite end portions of the element, each striphaving one end, turned transversely to the element Jfor connections to a vehicle frame,

6. A bumper for vehicles comprising a vpair of Ushaped impact units having the ends of the arms cut oblique to the lengths of the arms, said units extending in opposite directions in substantially the same vertical plane, and aligned with one another with the ends of the arms of keach unit abutting and overrunning those of the other unit, means vfor coupling the abutting ends of .the units, and means for supporting the units from afvehicle frame;

y In witness whereof I hereunto subscribe my signature.

SAMUEL H. SHAW. 

